"Little Tyson" Tua standard photo
Admittedly, Tyson's influence in the history of boxing is by no means unpunished, so much so that many viewers like to measure other boxers by Tyson's standards, and other boxers also like to use Tyson's aftermath to pay for themselves. Such as former boxer Hebby. Hyde, who calls himself "British Tyson", Ibibzi, who calls himself "African Tyson", and Chabayev, an Uzbek, has also been given the title of "White Tyson" by the media.
At his peak, Tyson (right) was truly unbeatable
However, the reality is that these people are either good looks, or match styles, or boxing achievements, all of which are very different from Tyson and do not seem to be worthy of the "Tyson" label on themselves. However, there is one person who is recognized as the closest boxer to Tyson in the industry, and he is David, who is known as "Little Tyson". Tua.
Born in 1972 in the Pacific island nation of Samoa, Tua became a new Zealand citizen and won a heavyweight bronze medal at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. Tua is 1.78 meters tall, which is very close to Tyson's height of 1.80 meters (it is also said that Tyson is 1.78 meters tall), and the two playing styles are also very similar, both are known for their strong attacks, and the strength of a single heavy punch is very amazing, and some people even think that Tua's strength exceeds Tyson's.
At the beginning of Tua's rise, it was at the time when Tyson was imprisoned, for which the boxing world urgently needed a figure similar to Tyson to stimulate the market, and Tua was extremely close to Tyson regardless of appearance and style, so it was regarded by the media as the most promising boxer to become the "successor of Tyson", of which the famous "Boxing Ring" magazine in 1996 selected 6 "Stars of Hope" that would affect the future weight of boxing, when Tua ranked first according to the number of votes, and he could be ranked behind Golotta, Raman, Bridges, Bird and Grant.
When he was young, Tua was handsome but domineering
The period 1996-2000 was the peak of Tua's boxing career, during which he defeated Ruiz in only 19 seconds to defeat Holyfield, and also destroyed the future champion Raman and Maskov, although the challenge to the undisputed world champion Lewis lost the point, but Tua's performance in the game was fully worthy of the title of "Little Tyson".
Tua used to be a nightmare for many boxers
In 2001, Toua lost to "Holyfield's successor" Bird, a match that was also seen as a watershed moment in his boxing career and once again proved how weak Toua was to face skilled, tall, and masterful boxers.
Despite losing to Lewis, Tua was defeated
It is reasonable to say that despite the setbacks in his career, according to the strength of Tua at that time, there was still a great chance of winning the world championship again, but another incident accelerated his decline in the boxing ring, that is, with the coach and agent, and also the leader of his boxing career, Kevin. A lawsuit between Barry.
Speaking of this Kevin. Barry still has some head, Hollyfield won the bronze medal in the 1984 Olympic Games, thanks to this Barry, when Barry was almost knocked out by Hollyfield, but the referee on the court disqualified him on the grounds that the old Ho did not listen to the order to punch without authorization, and as a result, Hollyfield could only hate the field and relegate to third place.
Tua's lawsuit with Barry revolves around a multimillion-dollar property stake, which Tua accused Barry and former finance manager Martin. Pew, who used deception to take possession of his own stock. There is also a complaint against Pew for illegally taking $1 million of the game proceeds from his own account! As a result, this time-consuming and long-term lawsuit cost both sides a lot, but the biggest loss was undoubtedly Tua himself.
Kevin. Barry (right): Now with Joseph. Parker played hot
Caught up in a lawsuit, Tua gave up the chance to compete for the world title twice in 2003 and 2004, and even the opposite agent Barry thought it was crazy! As a result, after dealing with the miscellaneous things, Tua actually wasted 6 years in the boxing world, how many 6 years does a boxer have?
Originally, Toua's value has made him unlimited, when the challenge Lewis honorarium income of 2.7 million US dollars, plus New Zealand government incentives, advertising endorsement income and inherent property, a total of more than 10 million US dollars, but the lawsuit that lasted for several years has made him unable to make ends meet, it is said that the current arrears of government taxes are as high as 2.2 million US dollars, which is very similar to Tyson, and even when the days are most difficult, he has to live in a rental house with his family. So in the past few years, Tua's intermittent return to the boxing world is not so much in the game, but rather to supplement the family.
The Tua is long gone
Nowadays, the former "Little Tyson" has long since ceased to be beautiful, replaced by a fat body and a sluggish look, after losing to the third-rate boxer Ustinov in 2013, Tua announced his withdrawal from the boxing world, you know, this Ustinov in the peak of Tua, I am afraid that even the head will be knocked out!
Tua (left) was beaten by the third-rate boxer Ustinov
Later generations talk about Tua, can not help but lament his boxing career, the Associated Press commented: the best heavyweight boxer who has never touched the world championship! The rating of "Boxing Ring" magazine is: Tua is the non-champion who has defeated the most world champions!
Perhaps with these evaluations, Tua will feel that his life is still very open.
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